Lost motion press-charging apparatus



April 23, 1968 K. BRUDER ETAL LOST MOTION PRESS-CHARGING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed March 15, 1966 Karl Bruder Ill 12 III 9 III 9 Walfer Hijsges INVENTORS,

April 23, 1958 K. BRUDER ETAL 3,379,322

LOST MOTION PRESS-CHARGING APPARATUS Filed March 15, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet a 15. '17 7.5 K K N l ill 1 7 1 @2253?" :2,

|F| '1 9 \T I T 18 7 A 1 Fig. 3 v Karl Bruc/er v Walter HUsges INVENTORS- 1 BY g 11 Attorney April 23, 1968 K. BRUDER ETAL 3,379,322

LOST MOTIQN PRESS-CHARGING APPARATUS Filed March 15, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Karl Bruql cr Walfer Husges INVENTORS.

United States Patent M 3,379,322 LOST MQTTUN PRESS-CHARGING APlARATUS Karl Bruder, Krefeld, and Walter Hiisges, Dulken, Germany, assignors to Fir-ma G. Siempelkamp & (30., Krefeld, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed Mar. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 534,324 Claims priority, appiicationGermany, Mar. 16, 1965,

95, 81 Jill Claims. (Cl. 2i4-16.6)

Our present invention relates to an apparatus for charging the vertically spaced platens of multiplaten presses with respective layers of material to be compressed and, more particularly, to an apparatus for the simultaneous charging of th stages of a multiplaten press system with the aid of so-called charging plates.

Multiplaten presses for the simultaneous compression of a plurality of layers of a material to be compressed have been provided heretofore for many purposes. Thus, hardboard, fiber-board or the like rigid sheet material can be produced from loosely coherent fibrous mats of a comminuted material (e.g. wood, fibers or other cellulosic substance and a thermally actiyatable binder) between the platens of a multiplaten press designed to apply both heat and pressure to the mats. Another common use for such presses is the lamination of relatively thin and generally distorted layers into bodies, this application including the manufacture of plywood, veneered panels, doors and the like in which at least one relatively thin layer, normally subject to wrinkling or distortion, is bonded to the remainder of the body between the press platens. Inasmuch as the production effciency of a platen for the manufacture of such bodies is the function both of the press time and the time required for charging and discharging the press, multiplaten presses capable of handling a relatively large number of bodies simultaneously have been seriously considered for the purposes indicated. Moreover, it has been proposed to provide means for simultaneously charging the several levels of a multiplaten press with the layers of material to be compressed and simultaneously to discharge the completed boards or compressed sheets from these levels. For this purpose, it has been proposed to provide adjacent the multiplaten press, at an input side thereof, a charging station with a multiplicity of vertically spaced stages each aligned or alignable with a respective stage of the press and means for advancing the layers disposed on these stages of the charging station into the press. In our copending application Ser. No. 534,231, filed Mar. 14, 1966, and entitled Apparatus for the Charging of Multiplaten Presses, the state of the art with respect to the use of individual conveyor stages or charging platforms is described. As noted there, conveyor stages have certain disadvantages and thus most installations for the charging of rn'ultiplaten presses have made use of charging platforms or plates.

In charging systems of this latter type, the charging station adjacent the press can be provided with a plurality of charging platforms or plates, equal in number to the stages of the press, and carried by at least one arm displaceable toward and away from the press for advancing the respective layers on these plates into the press. Tie advance of the plates into the press serves simultaneously to shift the compressed material already therein out of the press for further processing. The material, carriel into the press by the charging plates, is then engaged by retaining means and held back while the plates are retracted to dispose the layers of material on the press platens. The retaining means is constituted by so-called stripper bars which engage the rear edge of each layer after insertion of the plates into the press. Such stripper bars are generally disposed forwardly of the charging plates and are caused by a camming action or the like,

3,379,322 Patented Apr. 23, 1968 to ride over the material upon these plates for subsequent engagement with the rear edge of the perspective layer of material to be compressed. Only after the charging plate has been fully inserted between the platens of the press, does the stripper bar drop back to engage the material and serve as a retaining element. The charging of the deposition of the material to be compressed upon the charging plates can be carried out in various ways as set forth for example, in the aforedescribed copending application and the prior patents and patent applications identified therein. A common technique, however, is to constitute the charging station as a vertically displaceable rack whose stages are successively loaded from a feed device and in a fully elevated position of the rack, register with the respective levels of a multiplaten press for simultaneous advance of the layers into the press. This vertical movement of the charging station complicates the type of mechanism for advance of the materials into the press and renders most conventional systems for this purpose ineffective.

Furthermore, the use of the installation for the compression of laminated bodies made up, for example, of individual, relatively thin layers of wrinkled, undulating, bent, profiled or otherwise deformed or distorted layers, is complicated by the fact that it is frequently necessary to align or justify the edges of the stack of such layers prior to the advance thereof into the press. Conventional systems for the advance of charging plates carrying such bodies (cg. plywood veneer and door stacks of laminated layers) were impeded by the aforedescribed type of retaining means and indeed were only limitedly successful so that considerable expenditure of manual work was involved in the charging of the presses.

It is, accordingly, an important object of the present invention to provide a charging apparatus for multiplaten presses which is relatively simple and free from breakdown and interference with the advance of the materials into the press and which also permits a justi-fication and alignment of the edges of laminar stacks adapted to be compressed therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved means for delivering stacks of compressible material to the platens of a press without difiiculty and in an ordered manner.

These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by the provision of an apparatus for the charging of multiplaten presses with the aid of charging plates, which comprises a press-charging station disposed adjacent a multiplaten press and provided with a plurality of vertically spaced charging plates corresponding in numher to the number of levels of the press and shiftable relatively to the press between the charging station and an inserted position of the charging plates in which the plates are received between the platens of the press. This invention provides that, in addition to these plate-carrying arms, a multiplicity of sliders are provided with a lost-motion connection to the plate-displacing arm to align the edges of the laminar bodies.

Thus the present invention provides slider means shiftable relatively to and jointly with the plate-shifting means but forming a lost-motion linkage therewith and provided with abutment means engageable with a rear edge of the laminated bodies or stacks on the charging plates for aligning the rear edge of each stack during a limited forward movement of the slider means prior to its entrainment of the plate-carrying means. Thereafter, the slider means entrains the plate-carrying means to advance the charging plates into the multiplaten press while concurrently shifting the previously pressed bodies therefrom, the slider means being then withdrawn through its limited play to disengage the abutment surfaces from the rear edges of the bodies and permit the stripper elements to retain the bodies during the subsequent withdrawal of the plates by entrainment of the plate-carrying means with the slider means.

According to a further feature of this invention, the plate-carrying means comprises 2. depending arm shiftable along a vertical median plane of the installation between longitudinally extending elements of the charging station supporting the plates and forming, by suitable abutments, a lost-motion connection with a further depending arm of the slider means. The latter arm, coplanar with the plate-carrying arm, can be shifted along a common track therewith and may be driven while the plate-carrying arm is undriven and is shifted merely by entrainment with the arm of the slider means, the slides being constituted as forwardly projecting elements cantilevered onto the respective arm and retractable rearwardly beyond the plates to permit their vertical displacement relatively to both arms for charging of the plates via the system described in the aforementioned copending application or the patents and applications set forth therein. Advantageously, the charging plates are provided with spaced-apart elements extending longitudinally in the direction of displacement of the bodies while the respective charging stages have corresponding elongated elements, the slide members having heads interfitted with these elements in a comb-like configuration. To accommodate the vertical displacement of the charging station, the plates thereof may be provided with inwardly directed projections received in outwardly open U-profile vertical channels in which these projections are shiftable. While the term plate is used herein to desigmate the elements carrying the laminated bodies, it will be understood that substantially any generally planar arrangement can be used for this purpose and is intended to be encompassed by this term.

The arrangement thus described ensures the advance of the arms, the slider heads and the plates through the charging station and into the press with a prior straightening of the rearmost edge of the bodies and a subsequent partial retraction of the retaining means to accommodate the stripper bars before the charging plates are withdrawn. There is no interference with the supply of the laminated bodies to the charging plates nor is a misalignment of the relatively thin layers of the laminated bodies possible during the charging operation.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of one side of a charging station in accordance with this invention, showing the charging plates in a substantially fully advanced position;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a portion of one of the slide-member heads, in accordance with this invention, viewed in the direction of arrow III; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in diagrammatic form, of a press installation provided with the improvement of this invention.

Referring first to the overall system of FIG. 4, it will be seen that a plane for the production of laminated bodies, such as plywood, veneered panels, doors and the like wherein at least one but preferably a plurality of layers of wavy configuration and with a tendency to become disaligned during handling can be justified (i.e. aligned along all of the edges of the body) and inserted into a press for compression therein in the presence of heat or sufiicient force to bond the laminar layers into a unitary body. The press 100 of this installation is of the multiplaten type and is illustrated only diagrammatically in FIG. 4 and is there shown to comprise a frame structure 101 supporting a stationary head plate 102 and a plurality of vertically spaced heated platens 103 between the head plate 102 and a vertically shiftable bed plate 104. The latter is cradled in the lower members 105 of the frame structure and is vertically movable via hydraulic means represented by a piston 106 and a cylinder 107. Advantageously, the platens 103 can be coupled together via a simultaneous closure device of the type illustrated in the commonly assigned US' Patents No. 3,050,777 and No. 192,040, filed May 1, 1962, and issued Mar. 22, 1966, Kurt Loewenfeld. The platen, bed-plate and head-plate assemblies can be constructed and heated as disclosed, for example, in the commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 192,040, filed May 1, 1962, and issued Mar. 22, 1966, as US. Patent No. 3,241,189 to E. Siempelkamp.

The platens of the press are supplied simultaneously with the laminated bodies to be compressed from a charging station generally designated 200 and comprising avertically displaceable rack 250 carrying the individual stages 215 which constitute guides for respective charging plates 201. The stages 215 have a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the platens 103 and correspond in number thereto.

The charging plates 201, as described in greater detail in connection with FIGS. 1-3, are simultaneously advanced by a transport arm 203 depending from a carriage 203a whose rollers 203:5 within this carriage rest upon and support the arm 203 upon a rail 211. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the carriage 203 forms a lost-motion connection with a further slide-carrying arm whose carriage 204a also has rollers 20% mounted upon the rail 211. The arm 204 carries the abutment surfaces 208 which even out the right-hand ends of the laminated stacks 100 prior to their advance into the press 100. Thus, as the arm 204 is moved to the right (arrow 205) the abutment surfaces 208 upon arms 207 engage the rear edge of the laminated, stacked :bodies 109 and position them properly within the charging station 200. Thereafter, engagement of the arm 204 with the abutment 210 of arm 203 causes the charging plates 201 to advance in the direction of arrow 205 thereby pushing out previously compressed plates 109 onto a collecting station 300 shown only diagrammatically in FIG. 4.

After the plates 201 have been fully advanced into the press, an operation facilitated by the fact that the rack 200 permits the arms 203 and 204 to pass between the guide elements 215 of the respective stages, retraction of the arm 201 withdraws the surface 208 from the rear edge 109a of the plate 109 until the arm 204 again engages an abutment 210' of the arm 203. This retraction of the abutment surfaces 208 suffices to permit the retaining elements 401 of a retaining station 400 to drop into place behind the bodies 109 and strip them from the plates 201 as the latter are withdrawn to the right (FIG. 4) by further movement of the arm 204 and its entrainment of the arm 203 in this direction. The bodies 109 then remain in the press for the duration of the press cycle while the charging rack 200 is lowered and supplied stepwise with further stacks of laminated bodies by the charging table disclosed, for example, in our co pending application Ser. No. 534,231; see also commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 408,122, filed Nov. 2, 1964, by Kurt Lowenfeld and the charging-station systems of the U.S,. Patents No. 3,050,200 and No. 3,077,271 in this connection. Upon compression of the press cycle, the operation is repeated to concurrently discrage all of the platens of the press and feed additional bodies to be compressed thereto. The charging rack 300 can be carried away or emptied by the systems illustrated in the last-mentioned patent.

Referring noW to FIGS. 1-3, in which the charging station is illustrated only fragmentarily but in greater detail and in which corresponding parts are designated by reference numerals similar to those used in conjunction with FIG. 4, but without the hundreds digit, it will be seen that the charging station essentially comprises a stacked array of charging plates 1 which are slidable in the charging station 2 only the righthand portion of which can be seen in FIG. 1. The charging station 2 is, of course, disposed adjacent a multiplaten press in the manner already described with reference to FIG. 4. The number of charging plates 1 corresponds, of course, to the number of stages of the charging station and to the number of levels of the multiplaten press. As previously indicated also, the charging station 2 is so constructed that the support frame and the individual stages are provided with a central gap (in a vertical plane) through which the arm 3 of the charging-plate displacing means can pass to advance the charging plates into and out of the press and whereby the plates can be returned to the charging station 2. Thus, the arm 3 of FIG. 1 is shown to extend in a vertical median plane of the rack 2 and the multiplaten press while having a carriage 3a whose rollers 3b, received within the carriage 3a, suspend this arm 3 from a rail represented in dot-dash lines and lying in a vertical plane through the assembly. The plate-carrying arm 3 is freely movable on the rail 11 but is not provided with any drive means and is, in fact, displaceable only by an arm 4 disposed rearwardly of arm 3 with respect to the direction of advance of the bodies into the press. The arm 4 likewise depends from a carriage 4a whose rollers 41) are supported upon the rail 11. The arm 4 can be driven by a motor as represented at M or may merely be manually displaced as required.

The arm 4 comprises a pair of channel members 6a, 6b whose flanges 6c and 6d are received between the flanges of an I-beam 3c constituting the depending portion of the arm 3. Thus, the members 6a, 6b and 30 form a lostmotion linkage by means of which the arm 4 displaces the arm 3 after a limited play. More specifically, the arm 3 is provided with abutments it) for engagement with the arm 4 in a left-extreme position of the latter (upper part of FIG. 2) and with abutments engageable with the arm 4 in the right-extreme position thereof. Thus, movement of the arm 4 to the left (arrow 5 in FTG 2) will permit it to move through its play without entraining the plates l or the arm 3 until the flanges 6c and 6d engage the abutments it). Thereafter, the arms 3 and 4 will move simultaneously to the left. Upon movement of the arm 4 to the right, however, it will be retracted through the range of play until the fianges 6c and 6a. engage the abutments 10' whereafter the arm 3 is entrained with arm 4 to the right. Thus it can be stated that the arm 4 engages the arm 3 with the lost-motion stroke prior to advance of the charging plates 1 their retraction therefrom.

The members do and 6b of the arm 4 are provided with slides 7 extending laterally outwardly of the arm 4 and lying in horizontal planes respectively assigned to the platens of the press and the stages of the charging station, these slides 7 having heads 8 forming abutment surfaces from the rearmost edge of the laminated bodies to be disposed upon the piates. The rearmost edge of a body is represented in dot-dash lines in H39 in FIG. 2. Advantageously, the slides 7 are cantilevered upon the arm 4 and extend forwardly thereof in the direction of displacement of the bodies into the press (arrow 5). During the lost-motion forward stroke of the abutment 8 prior to movement of the charging plates, the rear edge of the laminated body is straightened until it lies along the dot-dash line 169 and the arm 4 engages the abutments It).

The arm 3 comprises a pair of vertical U-section, forwardly open channel members 12 along its flanks which receive the inwardly turned projections \13 of the plates 1. Thus the plates can be shifted vertically with the charging rack and can be lowered out of the arm 3 to permit the plates it to receive the stacked-layer bodies M9. The individual stages of the charging station 2 are provided on their undersides with plates 14 which are underlain into the press and F by elongated guide elements 15 (FIGS. 1 and 2) extending in the direction of advance of the bodies into the press. Similar guide elements 16 are provided upon the chargingplate 1 and these guide elements ensure a proper orientation of the abutment surfaces 8 as they serve to align the edges of the bodies upon the charging plates. The head 9 of each slide is provided along the abutment surfaces 8 with an elastic layer 17 and with openings it to accommodate the guide elements 15 and d6 so that the abutments 8 are substantially interleaved in a comb-like arrangement with these guide elements. It has been found that both this resilient covering 17 and the arrangement described of the guide elements and cutouts of the head 9 faciltate the aligning of the rearmost edges of stacks of relatively thin, corrugated, deformed angular or other layers as is necessary for unobjectionable compression. During the initial advance of the arm 4, the rear edge of the stacks 169 etc. are aligned so that the subsequent movement of the plates 1 into the press ensures that the bodies will be positioned therein without difficulty. During this movement of the plates into the press, the comb-like abutment surfaces 8 advance with the charging plates so that individual layers or portions of the stack do not remain behind as is characteristic of some prior arrangements. Once the bodies are disposed within the press, the arm 4 is retracted to form a gap between the abutment surfaces 8 and the rear edge of the bodies, thereby permitting insertion of the stripper elements dill, whereupon continued withdrawal of arm t carries plates 1 from the press while the elements dbl retain the laminated plates therein. The press can then be closed and the cycle repeated.

The invention described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modifications being considered within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for the charging of a multiplaten press comprising:

a charging station disposed adjacent said press and having a multiplicity of stages each corresponding to a press level for feeding a body to be compresse onto the respective levels of the press;

a plurality of charging plates assigned respectively to said stages and adapted to receive said bodies for advancing them on said charging plates onto said press and withdrawable to deposit the bodies upon the respective plates;

plate-shifting means cngageable with said plates and displaceablc toward and away from the press for shifting said plates from a retracted position in which said plates are disposed at said charging station for receiving the bodies to be compressed to a forward position of said plates within said press and thereafter returning said plates to said retracted position; and

slider means displaceable jointly with and relatively to said plate-shifting means while forming a lost-motion linkage therewith and having abutment surfaces engageable with corresponding edges of the respective bodies on said plates for aligning said edges during an initial movement of said slider means relatively to said plate-shifting means in the direction of said press, said slider means thereafter engaging said plate-shifting means for displacing said plates from said retracted position to said forward position.

2'. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said plate-shifting means includes an arm rearwardly of said charging station with respect to the direction of displacement of said bodies into said press, said slider means including an arm generally coplanar with said arm of said plate-shifting means and provided with said abutment surfaces.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said arm of said slider means is provided with at least one pair of outwardly and forwardly extending members assigned to each of said plates, said members each being provided with a respective head forming one of said abut-ment surfaces.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said plates and said stages are provided with respective longitudinally extending transversely spaced guide elements, said heads having cutouts receiving said elements and in terleaved therewith in a comb-like configuration.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said abutment surfaces are provided with elastic linings engageable with said edges.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein one of said arms is provided with a pair of abutments spaced apart in the direction of displacement of said arms and receiving between them a member of the other arm for defining the lost-motion play of said linkage whereby said abutment surfaces can be advanced and retracted through a distance corresponding to said play prior to entrainment of said plate-shifting means with said slider means.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein at least one of said abutments is formed by a vertically extending profiled beam and said member constitutes a flange on another vertically extending profiled beam.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said arm of said plate-shifting means includes at least one vertically extending channel member, said plates having projections in and vertically displaceable along said channel member.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said charging station is provided with a central passage for said arms.

in. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a rail lying in a vertical median plane of said charging station parallel to the direction of displacement of said bodies;

said plate-shifting means including a carriage rollingly supported on said rail, an arm depending from said carriage and provided with a pair of outwardly open vertically extending U-section channels, and a pair of abutments spaced apart in the direction of movement of said carriage along said rail;

said plates each comprising a pair of inwardly turned projections received in said channels and displaceable therealong to permit vertical movement of said charging station for the feeding of said bodies into said plates, and a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending guide elements parallel to said rail;

said stages each being provided with a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending guide elements parallel to said rail and having a central clearance in the plane of said rail to permit said arm to pass through said charging station;

said slider means including a further carriage rollingly supported on said rail, a further arm depending from said further carriage and having a vertically extending profiled member with a flange lying between said abutments, and a respective pair of forwardly and outwardly extending members fixed to said further arm and provided with respective heads extending perpendicular to said rail and said plates while being retractable from said charging station but movable onto said plates;

said heads each forming a respective one of said abutment surfaces and being provided with recesses receiving corresponding elements of the respective stage and the respective plate in interleaved relationship with said elements and with an elastic lining along the respective surface for engagement with the body; and

retaining means including a multiplicity of stripper bars engageable with said edges of said body in said forward position of said plates upon retraction of said slider means through a distance corresponding to said play and prior to the return of said plates to said retracted position for retaining said bodies against withdrawal from the press upon said plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,339,757 9/1967 Nagaolra 2l416.6

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

r R. B. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR THE CHARGING OF A MULTIPLATEN PRESS COMPRISING: A CHARGING STATION DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID PRESS AND HAVING A MULTIPLICITY OF STAGES EACH CORRESPONDING TO A PRESS LEVEL FOR FEEDING A BODY TO BE COMPRESSED ONTO THE RESPECTIVE LEVELS OF THE PRESS; A PLURALITY OF CHARGING PLATES ASSIGNED RESPECTIVELY TO SAID STAGES AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID BODIES FOR ADVANCING THEM ON SAID CHARGING PLATES ONTO SAID PRESS AND WITHDRAWABLE TO DEPOSIT THE BODIES UPON THE RESPECTIVE PLATES; PLATE-SHIFTING MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PLATES AND DISPLACEABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE PRESS FOR SHIFTING SAID PLATES FROM A RETRACTED POSITION IN WHICH SAID PLATES ARE DISPOSED AT SAID CHARGING STATION FOR RECEIVING THE BODIES TO BE COMPRESSED TO A FORWARD POSITION OF SAID PLATES WITHIN SAID PRESS AND THEREAFTER RETURNING SAID PLATES TO SAID RETRACTED POSITION; AND SLIDER MEANS DISPLACEABLE JOINTLY WITH AND RELATIVELY TO SAID PLATE-SHIFTING MEANS WHILE FORMING A LOST-MOTION LINKAGE THEREWITH AND HAVING ABUTMENT SURFACES ENGAGEABLE WITH CORRESPONDING EDGES OF THE RESPECTIVE BODIES ON SAID PLATES FOR ALIGNING SAID EDGES DURING AN INITIAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDER MEANS RELATIVELY TO SAID PLATE-SHIFTING MEANS IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID PRESS, SAID SLIDER MEANS THEREAFTER ENGAGING SAID PLATE-SHIFTING MEANS FOR DISPLACING SAID PLATES FROM SAID RETRACTED POSITION TO SAID FORWARD POSITION. 